Singapore defeat hosts Hong Kong to retain Asian netball crown

SINGAPORE –The Singapore Vandas retained their Asian Netball Championship crown on Aug 15 after a 57-33 win over hosts Hong Kong.

In the final held at the Kai Tak Arena sports hall, where the hosts were backed by a passionate home support, Singapore dominated proceedings to secure their first back-to-back Asian titles since victories in 2012 and 2014.

World No. 23 Singapore had arrived at the biennial continental competition as defending champions, after ending a 10-year wait for the title in 2024.

The top two finishers in Hong Kong also qualified for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, a feat that Singapore achieved on Aug 14, following the 82-54 win over Sri Lanka in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final, Hong Kong who are ranked 34th in the world, had secured a 51-47 upset victory over Malaysia.

During a round-robin match between these finalists on Aug 10, it was Hong Kong who held a 25-20 half-time lead although Singapore came back to clinch a 53-40 victory then.

This time, the Republic lived up to their favourites tag from the get-go, as they took a 23-10 lead after the first quarter and then a 32-20 advantage at half-time. After the break, Singapore added 16 more points to end the third quarter 48-26 up before more clinical shooting saw them win 57-33.

The Vandas kicked off their title defence in style with an emphatic 81-19 win against the Maldives on Aug 8, before a 62-51 win against Sri Lanka on Singapore’s National Day on Aug 9. A day later, they saw off Hong Kong before their winning run came to an end against Malaysia who handed them a 52-46 defeat on Aug 11.

Singapore recovered with an 87-31 win over India on Aug 12 to finish second in the six-team round-robin stage and advance as one of the top four teams before convincing wins in the semis and the final.

Full report to come.

Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.